P.T.L.S. SCHOOL-WIDE MEETING

February 12, 2009

Accreditation Update - Everything is on track for Heavenly Host's NLSA/SACS Accreditation February 18th-20th. Parents are invited to breakfast on Thursday morning, 2/19, to meet with the accreditation team from 7:45 - 9:00 a.m.

TCAP Scores - HHLS   TCAP   scores are well above proficient and many are close to advanced, accordig to 3rd-8th grade graphs presented by Mrs. Wickersham.

HERALD CITIZEN -  Herald Citizen approached HHLS   to do an article comparing private and public schools. Some of the items discussed in the interview were TCAP scores, family atmosphere, small classes, Christian atmostphere, etc. They are holding the article until we pass our acccreditation. Then, we will add our accreditation and our 15 year anniversary to the article. This articule is due to print Sunday, March 1st. This is the first day of National Lutheran Schools Week.

Student Recruitment - The question was asked what was being done about student recruitment. Last year we sent letter to prospective 4th grade students. Discounts brought in a handful of students. Kindergarten Open house was held for our preschool. Several new suggestions were made. They ranged from running the newspaper article and then having an open house. Perhaps Kindergarten could hold an open house for public preschools also. Another private school is called rospective clients and aving some available dates in an open forum format with the principal available to answer any questions. A final suggestion was made to hire a firm to help with marketing.

Heavenly Treasures - They are still in need of volunteers. Their hours are 9:00-1:00 Monday through Saturday.

Ongoing PTLS Fundraisers

1. Box Tops - Our deadline for the 2008-2009 school year is February 16. We must turn them in to receive our money before the end of the school year. PLEASE CONTINUE TO SAVE BOXTOPS. WE WILL CONTINUE WITH THIS FUNDRAISER YEAR AFTER YEAR. ASK GRANDPARENTS TO SAVE ALSO. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP.

2. Kroger Cares - Purchase your intital Kroger Cares card in the HHLS office for $5.00. Load the card and use it for groceries or gas. Our school receives a percentage of monies spent. Thanks again for your help.

3. Food Lion - There are two ways to earn money with Food Lion. First, please fill out the MVP card registration form. This will mark your MVP card to Heavenly Host Lutheran School, Cookeville, TN. Using your MVP card will compile points for the school used to determine a contribution amount. The second way to make 5% of your Food Lion grocery purchase come to the school is by purchasing a gift card from HHLS-PTLS. Make a check payable to HHLS-PTLS in increments of $5.00-$499.00 and a gift card will be purchased for you. (We cannot submit a total of tless than $500.00 at a time.)

4. Chick-Fil-A Spirit Nights - March 12, April 9, and May 7 are our scheduled HHLS  Spirit nights for the remainder of the 2008-2009 school year. Please come and support our school by eating out or buying gift cards at Chick-Fil-A. Our school receives 10% of the total sales. May 7 is also the National Day of Prayer and some suggestions were offered to do some special activities.

5. Smoked Hams and Turkeys Fundraiser - The Algood Pit Crew will be smoking hams and turkeys on the weekend before Easter, April 5. This is our next fundraiser, and hams/turkeys will be available to both the church and the school. A discussion was also held to include selling trees again from the McMinnville nurseries in conjunction with the meat sale.

6. Don Wharton Benefit Concert - This is our final BIG fundraiser of the 2008-2009 school year. We invite everyone's help and expertise to make this concert a success for HHLS. Trina Allison, Kari VanStratum, and Renita Sommers are the points of contact for this project. There is an organizational meeting on Tuesday, Feruary 17, at 6:30 P.M. at HHLS. Some of the topics of interest at the meeting will be how to go about inviting all the Putnam County churches, Alumni, HHLS students performing with Don Wharton, sponsorship, and Silent Auction. Please participate and remember many hands make the work light.

Open PTLS Officer Positions - PTLS is now accepting nominations for the President, Vice President and class representative positions.   We would love for you to join us now, attend some meetings, partake in some fundraisers and make a smooth transition into next year. The Treasurer and Secretary positions will remain for another year. Certificates of appreciation were handed out to the outgoing officers thanking them for their hours of service to HHLS.

Sports Banquet - There will be a combined sports banquet sometime around the end of April - beginning of May.

HHLS Budget Update - Mike Neyman, our HHLS School Board President, presented an update on the school's budget. He said we are in much better shape this year than last. However, we still have a long way to go. We have recovered the loan/registration fees prior years. He stated that the board is working on reinstating teachers' cuts and keeping tuition rates similar. They are also working on clarifying HHLC financial support. They are working on which discounts to keep and which to let go. It was also stated that registration fees for the 2009-2010 year will be kept in a separate account until school starts in the fall. We will begin an automatic draft for tition. He encouraged the whole school body to get involved in PTLS and keep fundraising so we can start next year in a much better position. He also encouraged marketing our school by word of mouth as it has always shown to be the best marketing tool!

School Improvement Ideas - Some suggesitons were made to make our school a place of excellence. We would like to put together a marketing plan for HHLS. This committee includes Michelle Wilson and Bill Baessler. Other items discussed were checking with TTU to see if their Spanish students would come and teach Spanish classes. Drama Club was also mentioned as another possibility.